How Can Cyber Bullying Affect Students?



Scholarly Article:
Cassidy, Wanda. "Sticks and Stones Can Break My Bones, but How Can Pixels Hurt Me?: Students' Experiences with Cyber-Bullying." School Psychology International (2009): n. pag. Web. 2 May 2011. <http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/recordDetails.jsp?searchtype=basic&pageSize=10&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=cyber+bullying&eric_displayStartCount=1&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=kw&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&objectId=0900019b803c1b3a&accno=EJ850065&_nfls=false>.

Summary: This article analyzes the impact that quantity of cellular use has on the amount of cyber bullying that can occur. The research included a survey which asked questions concerning the amount of bullying experienced by students in grades 6 through 9 in five schools in British Columbia, Canada. The research showed that the correlation between increases in cell usage is closely related to rises in cyber bullying reports in the schools. This information allows researchers and academic personnel to see that cyber bullying is an increasing problem in any school system.

Reaction: I'm not surprised that these studies have shown this information. As long as cell phone use rises, so will the frequency of cyber bullying. It shows that children can take advantage of privileges such as cell phones and abuse them by using them for things like that. Also, it shows that it is not restricted to a certain type of identity group, such as Americans, as the study took place in Canada. I think it is really beneficial that studies like this take place to spread awareness of things such as this. The article also displays the wide variety of ways cyber bullying can be carried out, through harassment to labeling someone as homosexual.

Scholarly Article
Walker, Carol M. "An Exploratory Study of Cyberbullying with Undergraduate University Students." TechTrends (2011): 31-38. Web. 2 May 2011.

Summary: This journal essentially records a study in which a large group of students were polled concerning their cyber-bullying experiences. Overall, 54% of the respondents, which includes 100% of male subjects responded that they have known someone who has been victimized by cyber bullies. These results from the experiment show that with the advent of affordable technology, there also comes an increased risk of cyber bullying. The research shows that the cyber bullies primarily used social networking sites Facebook and Myspace, as well as outside technology like cellphones and text messages.

Reaction: I am very surprised that 100% of male respondents answered that they had known someone bullied through the Internet or text messaging. I thought that the figure would be significantly lower than that. It goes to show how big of a problem that this has become not only for a certain gender, but for males and females both. Also, feelings of anger, sadness and lack of concentration are a direct result of being cyber bullied, the respondents listed these as some effects of cyber bullying. I'm not surprised that these feelings are listed as results, because any form of bullying is a psychological attack.


Summary Article
Beebe, J.. The prevalence of cyber bullying victimization and its relationship to academic, social, and emotional adjustment among college students. Diss. University of Northern Colorado, 2010. Dissertations & Theses: A&I, ProQuest. Web. 3 May. 2011.

Summary: This article explains through quantitative results that universities need to establish a wider variety of cyber bullying awareness groups and classes to prevent it from happening. This result is based around the fact that such a high percentage of students reported having been personally bullied through technological means either in high school or college.The overall prevalence of cyber bullying victimization reported by participants on average was 50.7% of the participants. This study examined different ages of people from freshmen in college to seniors in college.

Reaction: I believe that there should be some programs in effect on campuses that help people deal with this sort of thing. Although it's difficult to measure how successful they would be, it would be comforting for victims to know that they have options other than being alone. Since it is reported to be prevalent on college campuses, this is not an isolated incident. At some point, a child or teenager will experience being a victim of cyber bullying according to statistics.

Analysis Article
Kowalski, Robin. "Cyber Bullying in ADHD and Asperger Syndrome Populations." Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders (2011): n. pag. Web. 2 May 2011.

Summary: This article examines the effects of cyber bullying on students with ADHD and Asperger Syndrome. It attempts to close the gap between researching the effects of bullying on students without these conditions to those with them. The results were that those without ADHD and Asperger Syndrome showed greater levels of physical and psychological health as opposed to those involved with the conditions. ADHD and Asperger Syndrome students showed lower levels of psychological development and health.

Reaction: I would have expected that students who suffer from ADHD and Asperger Syndrome would be more affected psychologically than those without them. They produce variables such as the fact that their cognitive processes operate differently than other people's do. It also shows me that there should be programs in place that are specifically directed towards aiding people who suffer from these conditions and help in dealing with cyber bullying. If left without help, there could be increased damage to one's psyche.

Opinion Essay
Dilmac, Bulent. "Psychological Needs as a Predictor of Cyber Bullying: A Preliminary Report on College Students." Educational Sciences (2011): n. pag. Web. 3 May 2011.

Summary: This study's goal is to determine a person's psychological needs as they relate to cyber bullying. In this study, surveys were handed out to 666 students at a university. When the results came in, 55.3% of the subjects reported experiencing some form of cyber bullying. It was found that 22% of the subjects reported to have engaged in cyber bullying another person at some point in time. The study showed that aggression and intraception are main psychological needs concerning cyber bullies.

Reaction: I am not surprised that aggression comes up as a major psychological need for bullies. They express their frustrations out on other people because they cannot help themselves, and the Internet and cell phones provide and easy method of doing this. This also backs up my assertion that cyber bullies are not restricted to elementary or middle school, as they can be found in high school and college. There just aren't as many reported cases as the ages increase.

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